Automobile transmission lock



Oct. 16 1923.

H. SCHIFF AUTOMOBILE TRANSMISSION LOCK Filed octi'zj 1922 2 She ets sheet 1 H. SCHIFF AUTOMOBILE TRANSMISSION LOCK 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed oct. 24.. 1922 7 the lock in condition td'be' readily opened by a thief. 1? have thus provided a lock which p 'vided with a "key-hole :12 which receives a key 13 vfor the operation of "a suitahleloc-k $1 k held jwithinthecasing. The upper lever Patented Octy lfi, "1923,

" oneennmscm os new YQRK; N. Y. 1 l

nutromo'elnn TRANSMISSION L0oK.

Be it known that I, \HERBERT SoiiIFF, a CllllZBIl of the United States, andaresident-oi the city, county, and State of "NewYork;

have invented acertain new: and useful Improvement This invention "relates to an. improvement 1n a lock adapted' tobe used 111 connection 1 with an automobile, -transmission, or any other operating part of the can and has for its object to provide a device ofthischar acter which will be automatically locked when the motor of .t h'ecar is stopped by the meet the ignition swit'ch; whereby the pos sibilit'y; of the operator of the car forgetting to lock his car isavoided. l-understand that there are manyfoihis of transmission locks in use at the present time and I; have iou'nd that the main'qdifliculty -withthe present forms oflocki's thatithe same have, toloe manuall yoperated. With these forms when automatically go: into operation when 3 the tainin operation. c v I A furtherobject 'of this invention 1s to ignition switch isshut off to cause themotor to-cease operation; whloh Wlll beof simple constructi'onflandl notflikely to get out of order, and which will be positive and' 'cerprovide a lock ofsuch' construction that' it c is not completeljr unlocked until the'key is removed from the lock. This avoicl's the possibility of the car owner oroperatorun lockingthe: lockand forgetting to remove the key from the lock,l consequently leaving is automatically locked when the car is stoppedand which prevents the car "from" 7 being "used until the :key hasbeen removed ifrom the lockafter th 'lockghas been partly which may hereinafter appear, in viewyl have devised the particular arrangement of 1p'artshereinafter set forth and more particularly pointed'out in the claims appended hereto, g I

, ing drawings,' forming apart ll erect, in wh1ch' i in Automobile Transmission l Locks,;ofwh1ch the following s a spec1fica Application filed ember-24,1922] Seria1 -No.596,539.

, Figure l is a vertical sectional view of a portion of an automobile transmission case .of-conventional form showing my improved locking. mechanism;

'Figure 2 is a plan viewof the 'loclzing c mechanism,v with the upper portion of the belng shownin section to .d scloseconstruction;c

transmissioncase Figure?) and! Figure 4; areplan viewsof the lock. is i.

the transmission, showing the o g e1"ationof Throughout the variousviews of thedravvrings smnlar reference characters'designate similar parts...

-In the preferredembodiment of my" ventiomas disclosedinthe accompanying drawings,- 1 have shown a gear-case or trans mission-enclosing case of conventional form, 't .o v

as at 1, which isprovided with a top plate 2, and 'an' opening 3' therein-through which the f gear-shift'lever 4 extends Thefopeningifi is shown covered. by a: plate 30 securedon the shift lover. The gear-shift lever 4 has its lower endconnected'or linked in any desiredway; to the gear-operating rod 5 which extends'through' the transmission' case. All

of these details are found on.1nost automo- .biles; and although varying somewhatin minor details of construction onthe various makes of cars, they are in the main respects all similar in construction an'djoperation.

Thesedetails of construction, being of usual form, constitute no part of my inventionif; At'6 is disclosed aboss on the upper plate 2 of the transmission case, and a co-operat 'Jng boss 7 extends from one of the sidewalls 801? the casing; and mountedln these bosses (Sand 7 is a suitable pivot pin 9 upon -which1;;.-Y

lOCk iIlgleVe IS 10 and 11 arepivot'ed. I

The'upperplate 20f the casing is pro- 10 is -pro'vided; with a lug c in'whicha key-hole -16 isprovided; ,The lever 10 beingmovable, as will be hereinafter described,-' it will be seen that in order to permit the entry s The lever 10, which is theupperleve'r; is

provided at its outer or free endfyvithei I 10 is so, positioned that its yoke 17 embraces flQthe rod it is in its locked position.

The lower lever 11 is provided at its free yoke 17 intended to embrace the gear-actuatingleverf5 whensaid lever 5- is in its free or neutral position, and'restrain said le-- ver 5 against any movement which would i 5 cause interengagement of the transmission gears. The yoke 17 isso shaped' that it will ;,only embrace the lever 5 when said lever is in its neutrali position. When the lever end with a yoke 18,;which is similar-mall respectsto the yoke 17 on the lever 10, and

fthis' yoke 18also embraces the gear rod V l witli the lever '10. The twoleve'rs and l1 thus co-operateto lock the gear-actuating ma '5 in its neutral position, and retain the 'same in.suclrloeked positionuntil freed by means of-the k'ey13 as wlllbepointed'ont 1 At 19 is .shown an eiectro-magnet which extends from oneside of the casing at an angle, and this electro-rnagnet is adapted to be energized by an electric circuit, extending from the battery of the car and. connecting .2510 the binding posts 20 @6521 whichextend r from the outersideof the transmissioncase [andEin turn connect to the clectro magnetl Theielectrie circuit which energizes the-elecftromagnet fis intended-to hefclosc l through car s providerhirom which itwill; as will appear belo-wjbe apparent that when the "switchis' closed,'oi in other words when the I -motor-of the caris in operation or in readimess to be operated fby the closing oft-he ig iti n} circuit, the 'electro-nnagnet will be energized, and when the switches open and the motor is-stoppedthe magnet will be 'de i energized F 540 1 Assuming that the parts are inthe posiden disclosed in Figure 2, which shows the locked pos t-ion of the device. hen in this eosition the two lie holes 12 and 16 are in registration so that the key 13can be placed therethrough to operate the lock 14-. The

lock 14" is provided with an elongated mov- T f able eatin member 22, which; when the lock is 'op ened, is turned to the position disclosed in F1gure;3.- Such turning movementolthe Q-lfeam member 22 swings lever" 11. about qitsfaxis'9' and causes the endot'said lever :tofbe brought into contact with the electro V magnet 19. The lever 11isv provided on its face nearest to the magnet, w th a fplate or 5 disk 23-whibh contacts with the magnet. At

this p'o int the ignition-switch is closed and zth'e magnet is energized. The energ zing of the magnet causesjit to magnetically retain the lever 11; out of engagement with the gear 0 lev-erj5; I The key- 1'3"1s now turned about its aids to turn the-loc'k.cam meinber 22 back to its closed position, i s-disclosed in Figures 2 nude and the key! 1s withdrawn from: the

I 'lockla-ndout of the kevholes12 and;16.

i 765 .The lower lever 11. is provided with a stud ordinary ignition switch-with which the time held by the magnet 19. The lever 11 is provided with an upwardly projecting lug 28 which acts as an abutment for the lever 10. and limits the :movementct the same.

When in this position, 'whichis disclosed-in Figure 4:, it will beseen that'the two locking levers 10 and 11 are held as a unit away from and out vof engagement with the-gear lever 5'. This is the unlocked position of the device,and it will he apparentthat when in this position, the locking levers will in no manner, lnterli'erewlth the movements of the gear-shlft lever, so" that theigears in, the

transmission may .be freely shifted-and the car operated. I

As soon as the car is brought to a stop and the .ignitiongswitchisturned .oif' to cfeasethe' operation. of the motor,-the magnet- 19' will be de-energized and will release its magnetic force on the lever- .11. Under the influence of a, spring;28 which,-is secured to one of the wallsof the case 1,

like stud and which bears against the lever 11, the

lever 11 is forced over to Lengage'the gearshift lever The lug 28, hearing against the lever-510' causes said lever to be moved: as a unit with the lever 11f so thattthe 'two levers 1O andll are swung together to both embrace theigear-shift lever When in this position, as shown in Figure-2, the gear-shift lever is heldagainst movement and canonly be released 'byu'sing the key 13 to shift the lever :11 over to the magnet,

as previously pointed out I From the foregoing it 'will ,beappa-rent that ithepossibility of-an owner or operator failing to lock his car will be avoided, as

the locking'of the transmission throughthe :necha'nismherein, described will heentirely automatic; As the operationloithe motor of the caris stopped by? the use ofthe-igvnition switch,'and the vde-energizing of the magnet 19 is caused by: the shutting off. of the same switch, it will be seen that the movement of the switch in stopping the running of the motorwill" automatically release the hold of the magnet on the lever 11, and said lever,together'withthe lever 10, will be mov'edinto locked position about thegear lever 5 by the spring 28.? and can 'only'be released bythe use of-the key 13.

By the use oft-hetwoleversf-lOiand 11 it will lee/seen that the loc-k'isnot completely unlocked until the key .l3i is re.- moved from thezkey-holes, for as long as this'keyv remains in position inthe key-hole it will be seen that i-u nless thekeyfis removed from the lock, the; lock is 'not- -l'fully j unlocked. constitutes; important feature [of finvention "forit prevents the car owner frominadvertently leaving thek key in the look after the unlocking op ation thus leaving the car a ready prey for,

a thief. a

It will be apparent that the mechanism herein disclosed can be modified in =many 7 ways to enable thesameto'be' applied to the various forms of transmissions in use on cars at the present time, I have shownmy improved locking device as applied to a gear-shifting leverfbut it will be apparent that the same may be readily applied'to any operating levernecessaryto the oper ation of an automobile.

but is broad enoughyto cover all structures coming within the scope of the I annexed claims.

What I claim is:

--1 A device of the class described comprising agear-shiftmg means,,a pair of locking members adapted t engagesaid 2.A device of'the classdesicribed comprising a transmission casing,]a-'key-,hole

iii

gear-shifting means and prevent 'movement thereof, a lock for said locking members, a key for shifting one of saidlocking memshifting means, and means forretaining the other locking member in engagement with the gear-shifting means until the key has therein, a gear-shifting means," apairof locking members, a look, a key-hole in one of said,

locking members adapted to be held ,in alignment with the key-hole in the casing when the locking members are in engage-' ment with the gear-shifting means, a key adapted topass through both of said keys holes to operate the lock, means on said lock for? disengaging one of said locking members from the gear-shiftingjmeans, means for retaining said lever in its-disengaged position, and means for disen'gaging the other lever from the gear-shifting -me a'ns" after the key has been removed from the key-hole inthe last mentioned lever.

3. ,-A device of the class described compris- 7 ing gear-shifting-means, locking means for vengaging-thesame, meansfor causing said I locking means to be-partlydisengagedfrom said; gear-shifting means, a 'key fol-said locking means, and means forenga'gmg sald It will therefore be obvious that my invention is notto be restricted to the exact embodiment shown, "said, levers to be magne't. 1; 6. A device ofthe class described comprise i mg a car-operating lever, a pair of locking key to caujse the sameto retain a part of "said locking means in locked position until said key. is removed from engagement with 'the lockingmeans Q L 1 4; A device of the class-described comprisshifting means when the magnet is de-ener-;

ing a gear shifting member, a pair of levers, I a a lock for: moving one of said levers, an 9 relectro-magnet towhioh said lever is moved by the lock, a keyhole' in the other lever through whichia key for the lock is adapted to extend, means for causing the last 7 mentioned lever tobemoved to the first men 'tione'd lever when the key is removed-from. thekey hole and means for causing both of i moved away fromthef e membersladapted torestrain movement of i'ng'igzgeanshifting means, locking .mea-ns "adapt-ed toengage the same, an ign'ition-c-irucuit switch, an electro magnetadapted to be energizedfwhen s aid switchis closed, means for movingthe lockingmeans'fout nofl' engagement'vviththegea'iFShifting mea-nS and I movingi'saidflocking means to the magnet,

said car-operating. member, an electro-maga net and means j for energ'izing'the same,

meansfo'r shifting oneof said locking members out of engagement with the car-operat magnet, means for moving -.the.other lever overtothe [first mentioned lever when the same is moved to the magnet, and means for ing a gear-shifting member, a pair of inde- Dendentlyl movable v levers, means on 1 said levers for engaging the gear-shiftingmem- 'ing'member .and moving the same to'the her and preventing shifting movement thereof, an "electromagnet, an electric cir I ouit forenergizing the same, a switch for" sa d clrcuit, means .for shlftmg one of said leversto disengagethe samelfrom the gearshifting member, means for engagingthe otherilev er to hold the same engaged with the gear-shiftinglever until said leverres i" f j 2O with said lever, means for causing said i V levers to be moved towards one another and held together as a unit by the magnet,"and means for moving said levers into engage 1- v 2.5, a said Ieversare freed from themagnet by taining means is removed fromkengagement ment' with the gear-shifting member when the operation of the switch.

8. ,A device of the class describedcompris-j ing' a ear-operating: member, locking means therefor, saidlocking means comprising a ilpairlof locking members, ano eni ng-inone of said members, means for shlftingone of X said members "out of engagement with. the

ear-operating member and means,adapted to enter the opening in.the ;;10,ther locking;

.member, andretain-the same in engagement 7 1 with' the caroperatingimember untile f, j moved-fromsaid opening. d

1- move oneof saidl ockingmembers out of.

95A device; of the clas's described domprjsingea,oar-operating member, afpeir of lock- 1ng members therefor, a earn member to engagement with thecar-operating member, I

.2, key for m0ving5gsai'deam member, an 7 opening in the other locking; member through which said keyfextends to move the 0am member, and means for causing .said

last mentioned locking :memberto move into alignment with the first mentioned locking Signed at theieity, county'and State of New York, .this '23rd day of Oct0ber,l1922. t HERBERT SOHIFF,

member-when thekey is removed from the o opening; 

